PMMS
book
The M26 Pershing
and Variants
T26E3/M26, M26A1,
M45, M46/M46A1
By Troy D. Thiel
Schiffer Military History Book.
ISBN 0-7643-1544-7

Review by Terry Ashley

Released just in time for the Tamiya T26E3 Pershing and re-released DML T26E3 Pershing this soft cover book has 84 pages in the layout of the Squadron In-action series.

Apart from a few pages at the front with a brief description and technical specs for the vehicles covered the rest of the book is entirely taken up by photographs.
There is only one photograph per page so they are of a good size to see the details.

Chapter 1 (44 pages) is on the T26E3/M26 and apart from six photos of museum vehicles the rest are entirely action shots. These range from the M26s first action in WWII through to Korean action.
There is a fascinating sequence of the 8 photos (pages) on the destruction of a Panther by a T26E3 in Cologne on 6 March 1945. This includes some shots of the Pershing stalking the Panther and one photo of the Pershing firing off a round at point blank range and two photos as the Panther is hit and immediately after as the driver bails out and finally a photo of the burnt out Panther being examined, intriguing stuff.
The photos of the action in Korea give a good coverage of the markings, storage carried as well as the scenic settings.

Chapter 2 (3 pages) has a brief appearance of the M45 (105mm Howitzer armed M26) in Korea.

Chapter 3 (8 pages) is on the M26A1 and has four pages of museum photos plus four pages of in-action shots in Korea.

Chapter 4 (21 pages) covers the M46 Patton and is entirely taken up by action photos from Korea. There are two interesting photos of a damaged M46 being winched aboard an M25 Dragon Wagon (armoured cab) with M15A1 trailer.

Excellent photo coverage of the M26 with the emphasis on the T26E3/M26, it is good for overall in-action photos offering many diorama possibilities. If you are looking close-up details, you will unfortunately have to look elsewhere. Most notably the Hunnicutt books on the Pershing and Patton which are given as the source of a number of photographs in this book.



Page Created 22 July 2002

Click Browsers BACK button to return to list
Return to Home